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Chile

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GENERAL COUNTRY INFORMATION
Republic of Chile
Area: 756,950 sq km
Population: 16,763,470
Population density: 22 per sq km
Capital: Santiago
Chile map

 
PASSPORT AND VISA INFO
Passport Required?
British Yes
Australian Yes
Canadian Yes
USA Yes
Other EU Yes
Visa Required?
British No
Australian No/2
Canadian No/2
USA No/2
Other EU No/1
Return Ticket Required?
British Yes
Australian Yes
Canadian Yes
USA Yes
Other EU Yes

Passports

Passport valid for at least six months required by nationals referred to in the chart above.

Passport Note

Passports issued to children must contain a photo and state the nationality.

Visas

Not required by all nationals referred to in the chart above for stays of up to 90 days except the following:
(a) 1. nationals of Greece for up to 60 days and nationals of Romania for up to 30 days.
(b) transit passengers continuing their journey on the same or first connecting aircraft provided holding required travel documents for onward destination and not leaving the airport transit lounge.

Note: Nationals not referred to in the chart above are advised to contact the embassy to check visa requirements.

Visa Note

2. Nationals of Australia, Canada and the USA entering Chile for touristic purposes will be charged a processing fee payable on arrival and in cash only. For nationals of  Australia, the fee is US$56; for nationals of Canada, the fee is US$132; and for nationals of the USA, the fee is US$100 .

All 'passport and visa info' published with permission © WorldTravelGuide
 
GETTING THERE

Getting There by Air

Chile's main airline is LAN (LA) ( www.lan.com ), which deals with international flights.

Approximate Flight Times

From Miami to Santiago is 8 hours 30 minutes and from Madrid is 13 hours 45 minutes.

Main Airports

Santiago (SCL) (Arturo Merino Benitez) ( www.aeropuertosantiago.cl ). The airport is 21km (11 miles) northwest of Santiago (journey time - 30 minutes). To/from the airport: Bus services to the city centre operate from 0530 to 2400 every day. TurBus and Centropuerto both have cheap shuttle services, which take new arrivals to Pajaritos metro station or to Los Heroes in the city centre. There are a lot of taxis to the city available at the airport. Facilities: Bar, ATM, bureaux de change, restaurants, shops, car hire, post office and tourist office.
Air Passes
Mercosur Airpass: valid within Argentina, Brazil, Chile (except Easter Island), Paraguay and Uruguay. Participating airlines include Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR), Aerolíneas Del Sur (AS), Pluna (PU) and VARIG Airlines (RG). The pass can only be purchased by passengers who live outside South America and must be booked in conjunction with an international ticket. It is valid for a minimum of seven to a maximum of 45 days. At least two countries must be visited; dates can be changed but the flight route cannot. A maximum of three stopovers is allowed per country.

oneworld Visit South America Pass: valid within Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile (except Easter Island), Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Participating airlines are Aer Lingus (EI), American Airlines (AA), British Airways (BA), Cathay Pacific (CX), Iberia (IB), JAL Japan Airlines, LAN (LA) and Qantas (QF). The pass must be bought outside South America in the country of residence. It allows unlimited travel to 34 cities. A minimum of three flights must be booked; prices depend on the amount of flight zones. For further details, contact one of the participating airlines.
Departure Tax
None.

Getting There by Water

Main port: Several towns on the coast are now regular stops in cruise company itineraries. Valparaíso ( www.portvalparaiso.cl ) is the best known. Shipping lines such as Compañía Chilena de Navegación Interoceánica (CCNI) ( www.ccni.cl ) and Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) (from New York and European ports) ( www.csav.cl ) operate there. The country's biggest port is San Antonio.

Getting There by Rail

Unless you're wildly curious about rail travel, there's no point in trying to enter Chile by train. A sporadic service did exist between Chile and Bolivia, and there is talk of reviving that line. However, if you want practical travel by land, stick to the bus.

Getting There by Road

The Pan American Highway enters Chile through Arica. There are frequent, reliable and comfortable buses that can come from as far north as Ecuador. There are also services from Argentina and Brazil to Santiago.

All 'getting there' info published with permission © WorldTravelGuide
 
ROAD DISTANCE TABLE
Road distance table Chile (in kilometers)
 
 
   
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             
                               
                                 
                                   

 
DISTANCE CHARTS: PERSONAL RECORDS
Detailed distance chart from our trip through Chile - December 2009 (km/alti)
  altitude (in metres) in brackets
accomm.:
km
altimeters
         
Ollagüe (border Bolivia, 3761, H) miners camp Ascotán (3744)
69
527
miners camp Ascotán Paso Fronterizo Ascotán (3966)
4
230
Paso Fronterizo Ascotán turn-off Est. San Pedro (3410)
43
158
turn-off Est. San Pedro Chiu Chiu (2719)
47
61
  H= hotel / hospedaje . C= camping
E= estacionamiento (parking, water, showers)

Click here to see the rest of our trip through Colombia
  altitude (in metres) in brackets
accomm.:
km
altimeters
  H= hotel / hospedaje . C= camping
E= estacionamiento (parking, water, showers)
         
Chiu Chiu Calama (2307)
H
34
50
Calama Paso Barros Arana (3411)
62
1102
Paso Barros Arana San Pedro de Atacama (2493)
H
38
232
         
La Serena Camping Morillos (0)
C
28
300
Camping Morillos Camping Los Mostazos (48)
C
3
45
Camping Los Mostazos turn-off Guanaqueros (80)
C
2
31
turn-off Guanaqueros Estacionamiento (133)
E
25
214
Estacionamiento turn-off Quebrada Seca (125)
11
98
turn-off Quebrada Seca turn-off Ovalle (44)
E
29
161
turn-off Ovalle Alcones (201)
8
194
Alcones Mineral de Talca (273)
17
298
Mineral de Talca La Cebada (0)
E
9
9
La Cebada Toll Pto. Oscuro (139)
55
966
Toll Pto. Oscuro Huentelaquén Norte (65)
E
17
136
Huentelaquén Norte Huentelaquén Sur (20)
6
22
Huentelaquén Sur Playa Chigualoco (5)
C
17
234
Playa Chigualoco Los Villos (31)
H
19
228
Los Villos Estacionamiento (38)
E
19
225
Estacionamiento Pichidangui (59)
9
99
Pichidangui Los Molles (2)
C
10
77
Los Molles Pichicuy (50)
13
130
Pichicuy turn-off Papudo (12)
18
246
turn-off Papudo Papudo (2)
H
14
141
Papudo Zapallar (64)
H
10
108
Zapallar La Laguna (3)
H
13
201
La Laguna turn-off La Caldera (40)
15
157
turn-off La Caldera Concon (5)
H
28
244
Concon Valparaiso (35)
H
25
83
   
Valparaiso top climb out (360)
10
349
top climb out turn-off Casablanca (266)
28
211
turn-off Casablanca Estacionamiento (276)
E
5
19
Estacionamiento Túnel Zapata (439) no cycling!
11
160
Túnel Zapata turn-off Curacavi (233)
7
9
turn-off Curacavi Túnel Lo Prado (481) no cycling !
23
338
Túnel Lo Prado Santiago (580)
H / C
29
142
         
Santiago turn-off Colina (618)
32
124
turn-off Colina Túnel Chacabuco (1065) no cycling !
29
438
Túnel Chacabuco Los Andes (835)
H
17
120
Los Andes Rio Blanco (1387)
34
626
Rio Blanco Portillo (2783)
H
27
1380
Portillo Túnel Cristo Redentor (3081)
6
295

 
MAPS AND ROAD CONDITIONS

Chile Map
International Travel Maps
scale 1:2 000 000

waterproof

 

 

or even better, online:

Turistel.cl
free detailed maps
of Chile !!


 
COST OF LIVING / MONEY MATTERS
Chile: all prices in Chilean Pesos (CLP)
drinks and snacks

food: local markets; restaurants; and stores

water (mineral)
juice
soft drink (can)
soft drink (bottle)

1 litre
1 litre
300ml
1 litre
900
950
tba
900

bread loaf-white
bread loaf-whole grain

600g
750g
535
800
local market food


pizza - takeaway
one serving
one serving
one serving
med
tba
tba
tba
3500-4000
beer - local
wine
330ml
750ml
450
1750
tea
coffee (cafe / bar)
Nescafe instant
coffee - ground
25 bags
per cup
125g
500g
775
400
1150
2750
rice (white)
pasta
eggs
tinned tomatoes

kg
500g
per dozen
250g

550
420
300
400
milk
yoghurt / curd
cheese
Magnum icecream
1 litre
500g
kg
each

350
350
1800
tba

potatoes
onions
tomatoes
green beans
kg
kg
kg
kg
350
420
750
600
chips
salted peanuts
dried apricots
200g packet
kg
kg
tba
tba
tba
apples
oranges
bananas
kg
kg
kg
475
550
400

cornflakes
chocolate

biscuits - plain
biscuits- chocolate

375g packet
100g block

200g packet
200g packet
1250
650

300
450
pineapple (can)
oil (corn)
500g can
500ml
600
700
peanut paste
jam
500g jar
400g jar
tba
1200
 
accommodation personal
budget city hostel

budget city hotel
4,000-5,500 per dorm bed
12,000+ double share bathroom
35,000+ double with ensuite
deodorant - roll-on
soap
shampoo
toothbrush
toothpaste
disposable razor
toilet paper
50ml
150g bar
200ml
each
100ml
5 pack
each
1150
150
1350
tba
650
2500
tba
camping
wild camping
8,000-12,000 for 2 persons
yes, even in national parks
internet 650+ per hour

* tba = price to be announced
* January 2009: at time of writing 1.00 USD = 625 CLP
all prices have been taken from internet resources such as wikitravel, hostel world, leading supermarket chains, travel blogs, forums and of course our own travel experiences and purchases of everyday products in food markets, bazaars and local shopping facilities. They are only an indication and designed to give you a general impression of the cost of living in Chile. Items are geared towards the budget conscious traveller with an occasional craving for a bit of luxury.

 
ACCOMMODATION AND WHERE TO SLEEP
outdoor stuff
all Sport is a bit out of the way, but it’s the best bet if you want to buy sportswear or equipment. The mall is dedicated to all things sporting, including snow, equestrian, camping, surfing, biking and sailing gear. It’s also a good place to take the kids for a few hours, since it has an artificial wave pool to practice surfing, a rock-climbing wall, a skate park and an iceskating rink.

Location:
Avenida Las Condes 13541
Las Condes, Santiago, Chile

Open Hours from:10 a.m. to 9pm
Contact Information: URL: www.mallsport.cl/

line one to Escular Militar then take C01 bus two stops ask the bus driver


 
FOOD, DRINK AND VEGETARIAN FARE

 
BIKE SHOPS
Star system explained (no stars means we haven't been able to rate this store (yet):
* local shop, basic low end parts
** bike shop with choice of standard (big brand) bike parts
*** great store, big brands, choice of middle and top end goods and services

 
CLIMATE CHARTS
Red bar = precipitation (rainfall) in milimeters; blue line = temperature (average 24-hour temp.) in degrees Celsius
climate chart Antofagasta Chile climate chart Punta Arenas Chileclimate chart Valparaiso Chile climate chart Valvidia Chile

 

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